OUR 


NArIONALClRRENCY 


THE  TREASURY  NOTES  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT,  AND  THE  ISSUES 

OP  THE  NATIONAL  BANKS,  CONSTITUTING  THE  NATIONAL 

CURRENCY,  ARE,  FOR  ALL  THE  PURPOSES  OF  OUR  INTERNAL 

TRADE,  MONEY,  AS  GOOD  AS  GOLD  AND  SILVER; 

AND 

THE   AMOUNT   OF  SUCH   ISSUES   DOES   NOT   EXCEED  THE  ACTUAL 
BUSINESS   NECESSITIES  OF   THE  COUNTRY. 


,    1866. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

RINGWALT    &    BROWN,    STEAM    POWER    BOOK   AND    JOB    PRINTERS 
111  and  113  S.  Fourth  Street 


OUR 


NATION  AL  CURRENCY 


THE  TREASURY  NOTES  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT,  AND  THE  ISSUES 

OF  THE  NATIONAL  BANKS,  CONSTITUTING  THE  NATIONAL 

CURRENCY,  ARE,  FOR  ALL  THE  PURPOSES  OF  OUR  INTERNAL 

TRADE,  MONEY,  AS  GOOD  AS  GOLD  AND  SILVER; 

AND 

THE   AMOUNT   OF  SUCH   ISSUES   DOES   NOT   EXCEED  THE  ACTUAL 
BUSINESS   NECESSITIES  OF   THE  COUNTRY. 


,    18S6. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

RINGWALT    k    BROWN,    STEAM    POWER    BOOK   AND   JOB    PRINTERS, 
111  and  113  S.  Fourth  Street. 


To  my  Fellow  Citizens  of  the  United  States  : 

At  no  time  since  the  establishment  of  the  Republic, 
has  the  subject  of  Finance  had  greater  importance 
than  at  the  present,  whether  viewed  as  a  National  ques- 
tion, or  as  one  affecting  personal  interests.  In  the 
discussions  with  which  the  public  has  been  favored, 
the  subject,  so  far  as  the  National  interests  are  involved, 
has  been  more  considered,  than  it  has  as  affecting  the 
active  industrial  pursuits  of  the  country.  While  so 
much  yet  remains  problematical,  and  will  so  remain 
till  the  light  of  experience  shall  render  the  doubtful 
no  longer  uncertain,  it  is  the  province  of  discussion 
to  endeavor  to  deduce  the  best  practical  theory.  The 
attempt  will  here  be  made  to  establish  these  proposi- 
tions : 

The  Treasury  Notes  of  the  Government,  and  the  issues 
of  the  National  Banks,  constituting  the  National  Cur- 
rency, are,  for  all  the  purposes  of  our  internal  trade, 
money, as  good  as  gold  and  silver:  and,  that  the  amount  of 
such  issues  does  not  exceed  the  actual  business  necessities, 
of  the  country. 

Commerce  is  but  an  exchange  of  commodities ;  but 
as  the  exchange,  in  most  cases,  is  not  immediately 
nor  directly  made,  it  follows  that,  in  the  interim, 
there  must  be  something  to  represent  values ;  which 

(3) 


representative  is  but  the  good  faith  and  responsibility  of 
the  person  undertaking  to  make  the  exchange,  or  the 
good  faith  and  responsibility  of  some  third  party; 
or,  it  is  the  transfer  of  some  generally  recognized 
representative  of  value. 

In  the  first  instance,  we  have  the  obligation  of  the 
purchaser  or  factor ;  in  the  second,  the  obligation  of 
the  banker  or  dealer  in  exchange ;  and  in  the  third, 
money. 

Now  money,  intrinsically,  has  no  value.  It  is  simply 
and  only  a  representative  of  value.  It  neither  plows, 
spins,  nor  weaves,  nor  does  any  other  kind  of  labor. 
Absolutely  non-producing,  it  represents  and  is  a  crite- 
rion of  value,  and  is  that  alone.  Except  that  the 
representative  value  of  money  is  almost  universally 
known,  and  may  be  realized  at  any  time,  and  in  any 
place,  it  is  no  better  than  the  obligation  of  any  honest 
man,  capable  of  performing  his  obligation. 

Extended,  complicated  and  indirect  as  are  the  opera- 
tions of  commerce,  by  distance  and  non-acquaintance, 
personal  obligations  become  impracticable  of  perform- 
ance, or  of  unknown  validity  and  value ;  and  from 
necessity,  some  generally  received  representative  of 
values,  which  is  termed  money,  is  adopted  by  commer- 
cial usage. 

In  different  ages  of  the  world,  and  in  different 
countries,  a  great  variety  of  tokens  have  been  used  as 
money.  Shells,  pieces  of  iron,  stamped  leather,  etc., 
as  well  as  the  precious  metals,  and  precious  stones. 

Money  may  be  anything,  which,  by  mutual  agree- 
ment of  a  people,  is  used  to  represent  specific  values  ; 
but  &  perfect  money  has  certain  characteristics,  supposed 
to  be  best  supplied  by  the  precious  metals.  They  exist 


in  comparatively  small  quantities,  are  difficult  to  pro- 
duce, and  therefore  remain  of  nearly  a  stationary 
value ;  they  cannot  be  easily  counterfeited  nor  alloyed 
without  detection;  are  capable  of  division  in  any 
desired  proportions ;  and  are  of  easy  portability  and 
transfer.  For  these  reasons,  by  usage  growing  through 
many  centuries  of  time,  nearly  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  have  come  to  regard  the  precious  metals  as 
money ;  and  they  are  the  currency  of  the  world  among 
all  trading  people. 

Of  necessity,  with  those  who  only  recognize  the  pre- 
cious metals,  no  other  currency  is  applicable ;  there- 
fore in  general  foreign  trade,  a  solvent  nation  must 
possess  a  sufficiency  of  coin  or  bullion,  to  pay  all  bal- 
ances against  it.  But  a  nation's  foreign  commerce  is 
but  small,  compared  with  its  internal  trade ;  especially 
is  this  fact  true  with  respect  to  the  trade  of  the  United 
States.  Now,  as  money  is  any  standard  of  value  a 
people  may  adopt,  is  there  any  reason  why,  in  our 
domestic  trade,  we  should  not  have  a  standard  of  our 
own,  regardless  of  its  recognition  by  the  Chinese, 
Turks,  French  or  English  ?  Do  we  require  any  more 
than  that  it  be  satisfactory  to  ourselves  ? 

We  have  in  our  Treasury  Notes  and  the  issues  of 
the  National  Banks,  a  standard  of  values  as  perfect 
for  our  own  uses  as  gold  and  silver. 

They  can  only  emanate  from  the  Government ;  can- 
not be  successfully  counterfeited  ;  and  they  are  satis- 
factory to  everybody.  What  more  is  required  ? 

But,  it  is  said,  we  have  too  much  currency  money. 
The  facts  adduced  in  proof  of  this  very  doubtful 
proposition  are  stated  to  be,  that  we  have  a  much 
greater  amount  of  paper  money  than  we  had  before 


the  war;  and  previous  to  the  war,  on  some  exceptional 
occasions,  credits  became  too  much  extended,  panics 
arose,  and  ruinous  bankruptcies  overwhelmed  the 
country.  The  causes  of  these  epidemics  of  bankruptcy 
seem  to  be  misunderstood. 

If  the  business  interests  of  a  country  require  a  gen- 
eral representative  of  values,  those  same  interests 
equally  require  such  representative'  to  be  in  quantity 
sufficient  to  meet  business  necessities. 

Where  ten  dollars  are  required,  one  will  not  answer 
the  purpose ;  and  if  one  thousand  is  demanded,  a 
hundred  will  scarcely  suffice  for  the  requirement. 

So  that,  while  we  need  a  general  representative  of 
values,  we  need  that  representative  in  such  quantity, 
as  shall  give  an  ample  and  safe  base  for  the  whole 
amount  of  practical  enterprise  of  the  country.  If 
sufficient  money  is  not  required,  it  may  as  well  be  said 
that  none  is  necessary. 

The  causes  of  the  great  financial  revulsions  of  this 
country  in  times  past,  were  the  possession  of  too  little 
money,  and  the  necessary  use  of  credits  in  the  most 
liberal  manner. 

We  never  had  too  much  money,  nor  half  enough, 
for  the  immense  enterprise  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  What  was  called  paper  money,  was  no  money 
at  all.  It  had  no  independent  value  of  its  own,  but  was 
redeemable  in  specie  on  demand.  It  was  but  a  special 
form  of  credit,  almost  or  quite  as  liable  to  excessive 
use  and  disastrous  overthrow  as  private  credits.  This 
country  has  never  hitherto  had  a  representative  of 
values,  except  specie,  that  was  an  independent  stand- 
ard. All,  except  gold  and  silver,  has  previously  been 
some  form  of  credit. 


Look  at  our  absolutely  enormous  property  wealth, 
in  every  form,  and  contemplate  the  narrow  metallic 
bridge,  over  which  the  endless  train  of  our  vast  indus- 
tries had  to  pass.  Is  it  a  wonder  that  interests  of  such 
magnitude  sometimes  lost  their  equilibrium,  on  the 
narrow  base  of  our  small  supply  of  metal  currency  ? 

And,  sometimes,  the  balances  of  foreign  trade  being 
largely  against  us,  have  induced  excessive  exportations 
of  specie ;  and  thus  our  little  bridge  has  been  drawn 
from  under  us. 

Every  considerable  commercial  revulsion  has  been 
followed  by  a  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the 
banks,  sometimes  continuing  through  several  years. 

During  this  state  of  suspension,  the  balance  of  our 
foreign  trade  has  been  regulated  by  the  use  of  specie ; 
but  the  metallic  currency,  during  such  periods,  ceased 
to  be  used  in  our  domestic  trade.  In  each  instance 
the  country  rose  from  its  business  prostration,  by  the 
use  of  such  local  representatives  of  value  as  the  coun- 
try happened  to  possess ; — bank  issues,  the  banks 
were  unable  to  redeem,  and  private  credit.  And  when 
prosperity  and  business  activity  have  thus  been  restored, 
we  have,  again  and  again,  placed  our  whole  industrial 
interests  upon  the  same  narrow  base  of  our  metallic 
money;  in  a  few  years,  again  to  fall  from  that  inade- 
quate support,  in  confusion  and  disaster. 

Our  experiences  have  repeatedly  demonstrated  that 
our  domestic  trade  may  flourish,  independent  of  a 
metal  currency. 

In  the  absence  of  an  adequate  supply  of  the  pre- 
cious metals,  we  require  some  substitute,  which,  like 
those  metals,  shall  have  an  independent  value  of  its 
own,  and  which  will,  therefore,  be  substantially  perma- 


8 

nent.  Only  such  a  currency  is  competent  to  meet  our 
necessities. 

Bank  paper,  redeemable  in  specie  on  demand,  is 
abundant  when  specie  is  abundant,  and  scarce  when 
specie  is  in  deficient  supply.  When  least  needed,  it  is 
most  to  be  had  ;  when  most  required,  it  is  least  easy 
to  procure ;  because  it  has  no  value  independent  of 
gold  and  silver,  and  must  be  withdrawn  from  use 
when  there  is  lack  of  specie  for  its  redemption.  Thus 
our  banks,  instead  of  averting,  have  at  times  assist- 
ed in  creating  panics;  but  have  never  materially 
assisted  us  to  arise  from  one. 

Is  it  still  asked  why  panics  have  been  more  frequent 
and  more  disastrous  with  us  than  with  the  commercial 
nations  of  Europe  ? 

The  reply  is,  they  have  a  much  greater  proportion 
of  their  aggregate  wealth  in  money  than  we ;  and  all 
business  enterprises  have  a  much  broader  money  base 
than  with  us.  We  are  a  young  nation  compared  with 
them ;  they  have  had  time  to  accumulate  by  the  indus- 
try of  centuries ;  we,  by  that  of  a  few  years  only : 
besides,  the  labor  of  our  people  is  applied,  in  great  pro- 
portion, to  building  up  and  establishing.  We  are 
making  new  farms,  new  villages  and  cities,  and  are 
and  have  been  developing  new  works  of  internal  im- 
provements, and  all  this  on  a  gigantic  scale.  The 
older  and  more  established  countries,  in  works  of  this 
permanent  character,  are  better  supplied ;  and  there- 
fore, have  a  much  greater  number  of  their  people 
engaged  in  producing  articles  of  mercantile  and 
exchangeable  value.  They  have  at  present  the  means 
of  over-trading  us ;  and  it  requires  constant  watchful- 
ness to  prevent  the  balances  of  our  foreign  trade  from 


being  unmanageably  large.  This  state  of  things  is 
destined  to  continue  many  years,  during  which  time 
we  shall  never,  in  any  degree,  suited  to  our  money 
wants,  afcumulate  the  precious  metals ;  for  our  wants 
are  very  great. 

In  all  classes  of  property,  everything  that  consti- 
tutes real  wealth,  our  possessions  are  boundless :  but 
of  that  which  represents  value  in  the  world's  currency, 
viz.,  gold  and  silver,  the  older  countries  are  better 
supplied;  and  their  enterprises  are  never  narrowed 
down  to  that  insufficient  money  base,  which  has  here- 
tofore been  incident  to  our  condition. 

Broaden  our  money  basis  to  an  equality  with  theirs, 
and  bankruptcies  and  panics  will  be  as  infrequent. 

Shall  we  wait  for  this  till,  by  centuries  of  accumula- 
tion, we  acquire  a  sufficient  supply  of  metallic  currency 
for  our  business  purposes ;  suffering,  meanwhile,  peri- 
odically, paralyzing  panics ;  or,  now  that  we  have  found 
a  new,  reliable  and  satisfactory  standard  of  values, 
shall  we  use  it  ? 

Were  we  a  lethargic  people,  our  industrial  enter- 
prises might  be  limited  to  such  a  small  extent  that  our 
metal  money  would  suffice  for  our  uses ;  but  we  are 
not.  On  the  contrary,  we  are  the  most  restless  in 
enterprise  of  any  people  in  the  universe ;  and  if  we 
cannot  get  the  money  token,  rather  than  be  idle,  we 
oft  accept  the  promise. 

How,  in  the  late  war,  could  our  astonishing  resources 
have  been  arrayed  in  the  mighty  and  continued  effort, 
which  finally  crushed  the  rebellion  to  atoms,  had  not 
the  Government,  by  its  currency,  furnished  the  people 
a  satisfactory  representative  of  values  for  general  busi- 
ness ?  What  was  then  useful,  is  still  just  as  much  so. 


10 

Our  Finances  will  soon  adjust  themselves  to  the 
present  order  of  affairs.  Government  bonds  will  soon 
find  their  way  into  the  hands  of  permanent  holders. 
They  once  commanded  a  premium  in  the  money  mar- 
kets, and  soon  will  do  so  again ;  and  our  currency, 
based  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States,  will  be  equiva- 
lent with  us  to  gold  and  silver ;  but  bearing  no  inter- 
est, Will  never  be  absorbed  by  foreign  capitalists  to 
any  large  extent. 

Let  us  consider  the  comparative  results  of  a  defi- 
ciently, and  of  a  competently  supplied  money  market. 

Previous  to  our  late  war,  the  business  of  the  country 
was  not  far  different  in  amount  from  what  it  is  at  the 
present  time.  Our  paper  money  was  only  about 
$200,000,000 ;  but  private  credits  were  extensively  in 
use.  Now  we  have  about  $700,000,000  of  currency, 
and  credits  have  comparatively  disappeared. 

The  amount  of  current  credits  in  1860,  and  the 
amount  in  1865,  is  not  very  incorrectly  represented  by 
the  difference  in  currency,  viz. ,  $500,000,000 ;  general 
credit  having  disappeared  to  about  that  aggregate 
amount. 

We  now  stand  upon  a  sound  money  basis  in  the 
conduct  of  our  domestic  trade,  fearing  no  disaster  from 
extended  and  unmanageable  credits ;  cash,  as  a  general 
thing,  being  the  condition  of  trade. 

All  is  prosperous ;  and  if  all  is  not  confidence,  it  is 
from  the  fear  that  the  rash  hand  of  power  may  disturb 
the  best  financial  condition  this  people  ever  enjoyed, 
the  public  debt  alone  excepted. 

Still,  it  is  said,  we  have  too  much  currency. 

$700,000,000  of  currency,  too  much  for  a  people, 
whose  aggregate  of  property  wealth  is  of  fifty-fold 
greater  value ! 


11 

Too  much,  for  the  uses  of  a  people,  the  aggregate 
value  of  whose  labor  productions  is  annually,  at  least, 
five-fold  greater  in  amount! 

$700,000,000  of  currency  too  much  for  the  use  of 
30,000,000  of  people! 

It  is  but  $23  to  each  person ;  a  sum  any  laboring  man 
can  earn  in  a  month,  in  the  least  renumerated  kind  of 
labor.  The  whole  amount  is  really  but  pocket  money 
for  the  people,  if  equally  distributed  among  them. 

Conservative  men  imagine  they  now  see  in  inflated 
prices,  the  promise  of  great  evils  to  come. 

Is  it  true,  there  is  any  irregularity  or  augmentation 
of  values,  that  can  be  distinctly  chargeable  to  the  in- 
crease of  our  currency  ? 

We  are  told,  before  the  war,  we  had  but  $200,000,000 
of  currency,  now  we  have  $700,060,000;  and  the 
prices  of  property  are  higher  than  before. 

Did  prices  never  fluctuate,  from  low  to  high,  during 
the  periods  when  the  standard  amount  of  currency  re- 
mained at  about  $200,000,000? 

A  year  and  a  half  ago  prices  were  higher  than  they 
now  are,  and  the  amount  of  currency  was  less  than  it 
now  is.  Must  we,  therefore,  say,  the  less  the  currency, 
the  higher  prices  ?  The  consideration  of  many  facts 
is  often  necessary  to  a  correct  conclusion  ;  and  the  ap- 
prehended evil  is  often  no  evil  at  all. 

When  fairly  embarked  in  the  war,  all  the  usual 
conditions  of  a  settled  order  of  trade  had  ceased  to  ex- 
ist; the  foundations  of  our  social  and  political  economy 
were  exceedingly  disturbed ;  irregularity  in  prices  and 
trade  was  unexampled  ;  labor  was  very  largely  divert- 
ed from  its  accustomed  pursuits ;  and  new  and  extra- 
ordinary demands  arose,  for  which,  from  necessity, 


12 

supplies  had  to  be  sought,  with  but  little  regard  to  cost. 
True,  these  active  disturbances  of  the  application  of 
labor,  and  of  the  value  of  its  productions,  have  ceased 
to  exist;  but  it  cannot  be  expected  that  the  effects  will 
not  for  some  time,  remain  very  apparent.  But  who 
can  say,  taking  a  view  of  our  whole  country,  and  of 
its  various  kinds  of  property  wealth,  that  prices  before 
the  war  were  not  too  low  ?  It  is  well  known,  that  ex- 
cept the  staple  articles  of  commerce,  we  have  never 
been  able  to  dispose  of  our  property  at  forced  sales, 
except  at  prices  ruinously  low.  While  values  were 
recognized,  they  could  not  readily  be  realized. 

Real  estate,  the  safest  and  best  of  all  property,  has 
been  almost  always  very  slow  to  bring  its  value.  The 
reason  is,  outside  the  insufficient  supply  for  the  de- 
mands of  commerce,  we  have  had  very  little  money  for 
anything  else. 

Let  us  further  compare  a  national  currency,  of  in- 
dependent value,  sufficient  in  quantity  to  meet,  in  a 
reasonable  degree,  the  business  demands  of  the  people, 
and  a  currency  having  no  independent  value,  but  re- 
deemable in  coin. 

Primarily,  however  small  the  amount  of  specie  may 
be,  which  is  possessed  by  the  banks,  and  however 
much  it  may  vary  in  amount,  that  amount  is  an  arbi- 
trary standard  of  values. 

At  no  time  (previous  to  the  year  1858)  had  the  ag- 
gregate specie  of  all  the  banks  in  the  United  States 
equaled  $60,000,000;  yet  our  currency,  the  main  agent 
of  our  domestic  trade,  was  about  $200,000,000.  That 
is,  the  currency  of  the  country  represented  obligations, 
payable  in  specie,  on  demand,  to  the  amount  of  more 
than  three  dollars  for  every  dollar  the  banks  possessed. 


13 

At  the  same  time,  in  flourishing  business  periods, 
the  amounts  represented  by  short  time  business 
paper,  and  in  other  current  forms  of  credit,  were 
$400,000,000  or  $500,000,000  more.  Panics  arose; 
people  doubted  each  other ;  doubted  the  currency  of 
the  banks ;  and  suddenly  the  immediate  demand  was 
universal  for  specie.  But  as  one  dollar  cannot  meet  the 
demand  for  ten  or  fifteen  dollars,  payments  were  sus- 
pended, and  the  business  of  the  country  was  arrested. 

But  one  of  the  worst  features  of  our  former  mixed  cur- 
rency, was  that  the  lanJcs  issuing  the  paper  money,  were 
banks  that  were  mainly  without  specie.  The  specie- 
holding  banks  issued  little  or  no  circulation ;  and, 
though  in  easy  times,  they  used  their  money  to  redeem 
and  sustain  the  circulation  of  the  banks  of  paper  issue, 
they  were  not  bound  to  do  so ;  and  in  adverse  times, 
they  invariably  let  the  currency  drop.  It  may  safely  be 
asserted,  that  at  no  time  did  the  banks  that  issued  the 
$200,000,000  of  currency,  actually  possess  $30,000,000 
in  specie,  representing  their  obligations  to  redeem. 
What  a  contemptibly  inadequate  foundation !  Is  it 
possible,  in  view  of  these  things,  that  any  man  can  desire 
to  exchange  our  present  currency,  representing  as  it  does 
the  faith  and  credit  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  for  a  currency,  which,  whatever  its  form, 
and  whatever  the  theory  of  its  issue,  was,  in  fact, 
mainly  represented  by  the  responsibility  of  individual 
citizens ;  and  which  every  severe  trial  found  wanting 
in  the  most  essential  element  of  money,  viz :  stability 
in  value  ? 

Whether  money  is  in  adequate,  or  in  inadequate 
supply,  is  a  question  capable  of  a  pretty  clear  solution, 
by  reference  to  rates  of  interest.  In  Holland,  where 


14 

the  supply  is  better  apportioned  to  the  demand  than 
any  other  country,  for  the  last  twenty  years  rates  of 
interest  have  usually  ranged  between  two  and  four 
per  cent,  per  annum ;  in  England  and  France,  between 
three  and  six  per  cent,  per  annum.  But  these  are  old 
manufacturing  and  commercial  nations ;  and  their 
accumulations  of  specie  have  been  large.  Their  sup- 
ply of  that  kind  of  money  may  be  regarded  sufficient 
to  meet  the  demands  of  both  their  foreign  and  domes- 
tic trade,  and  give  a  safe  basis  to  such  credit  as  their 
business  exigencies  may  require.  France  has  a  circu- 
lating medium,  mostly  specie,  of  about  $1,000,000,000 ; 
England  has  some  $600,000,000  or  $700,000,000. 

Some  of  our  older  and  successful  commercial  cities 
have  accumulated  pretty  largely,  in  hard  money ;  and 
in  some  of  the  wealthiest,  interest,  for  the  twenty 
years  previous  to  the  war,  has  usually  ranged  from 
five  to  eight  per  cent. ;  but  this  money  they  kept  to 
themselves.  Outside  the  cities  of  New  York,  Boston, 
Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  JNTew  Orleans,  all  the 
banks  of  the  country,  never  at  any  time  during  the 
periods  spoken  of,  possessed  an  average  of  $20,000,000 
in  specie.  And  what  have  been  the  rates  of  interest, 
even  where  money  has  been  secured  by  pledge  of  the 
staple  articles  of  commerce  in  store,  or  in  transit  to 
the  commercial  seaboard  ports  ? 

In  the  large  commercial  interior  cities  of  the  west, 
the  enormous  rates  of  from  ten  to  thirty  per  cent,  per 
annum ,  have  currently  been  paid.  What  an  oppressive 
and  discouraging  tax  upon  industry ! 

We  are  now  tolerably  well  supplied  with  our  national 
currency,  and  these  distressing  rates  of  interest,  have, 
to  a  great  extent,  disappeared.  But  the  rates  of  inter- 


15 

est  do  not  yet  show  we  have  too  much  money.  They 
are  still  much  higher  than  in  Europe,  and  are  oppres- 
sive still,  in  some  parts  of  the  country  ;  for  property 
should  never  be  slave  to  money,  wine]?,  by  its  nature, 
should  ever  remain  only  the  convenience  of  property. 

In  the  discussion  of  this  subject,  it  is  not  intended 
the  inference  shall  be  drawn,  that  the  present  system 
is  the  best  that  might  be  adopted.  The  National  Banks 
are  not  needed.  Our  whole  currency  should  be  supplied 
directly  by  the  Government ;  and  the  interest  on  the 
Government  securities  pledged  by  the  banks,  which 
now  costs  the  country  $24,000,000  annually,  should  be 
saved.  Who  regards  the  bill  of  a  national  bank  bet- 
ter than  a  treasury  note  ?  Surely,  no  person. 

Though,  in  the  exigencies  of  the  war,  it  may  have 
been  sound  policy  to  issue  specie-paying  bonds,  the  exi- 
gency has  passed  away.  And  it  would  seem  an  unpatri- 
otic policy  to  increase  the  present  issues  of  that  class. 

Previous  to  the  war,  our  national  rivals  and  enemies, 
— the  hard  money  potentates  of  the  world — foresaw 
the  rebellion ;  cherished  and  encouraged  it ;  and  resolv- 
ing to  make  it  a  success,  determined  in  advance,  to  lend 
us  no  money ;  knowing  the  inadequacy  of  the  specie 
we  possessed,  to  carry  on  the  operations  of  a  gigantic 
and  exhausting  war.  It  was  confidentially  expected 
the  Government  efforts  would  soon  succumb  to  the 
destitution  of  its  finances. 

Events  proved  their  mistake ;  a  means  was  found 
by  which  all  the  resources  of  the  country  could  be 
wielded  without  the  use  of  gold  or  silver.  Previous 
to  this,  we  were  in  a  state  of  financial  vassalage  to  the 
wealthy  European  nations. 

In  the  days  of  our  adversity  we  emancipated  our- 


16 

selves.  Shall  we,  in  the  first  hours  of  our  returning 
prosperity,  voluntarily  resume  the  shackles  of  finan- 
cial subordination  and  servitude  ?  We  are  to-day,  the 
mightiest  among  the  nations.  Our  people  are  able  and 
willing,  to  do  anything  the  national  dignity  or  interests 
require.  They  need  no  foreign  aid  to  hold  the  Govern- 
ment debt.  Though  our  Government  bonds,  being  a 
better  and  more  productive  security  than  any  of  their 
own,  will  be  largely  taken  by  the  people  of  Europe, 
in  addition  to  what  they  now  hold ;  these  bonds  should 
be  paid  in  our  currency.  That  will  render  them  less 
liable  to  be  taken  by  foreigners  than  if  payable  in  spe- 
cie. Let  foreign  capitalists,  if  they  desire,  invest  in 
our  rail  road  and  other  corporate  securities ;  but  let 
the  debt  of  the  American  Government  be  held  by 
the  American  people.  ISTo  thoughtful  person  can  satis- 
factorily contemplate  obligations  of  our  Government 
to  pay  some  thousands  of  millions  of  dollars  in  foreign 
gold.  If  necessity  dictated  such  an  unsatisfactory 
state  of  affairs,  to  that  necessity  we  would  sadly  bow ; 
but  there  is  no  such  necessity  that  the  nation  suffer  in 
its  dignity  and  independence. 

If  any  change  shall  be  made  in  the  form  of  our 
present  Government  indebtedness,  as  soon  as  practica- 
ble, bonds,  payable  in  currency,  should  be  issued  to  take  the 
place  of  specie-paying  bonds. 

The  United  States  should  never  redeem  more 
than  $2,000,000,000  of  its  present  debt.  They  should 
be  indebted  to  the  people  $1,000,000,000,  in  the  form 
of  treasury  notes ;  permanently  to  remain  an  inde- 
pendent standard  of  money,  for  all  the  purposes  of  our 
domestic  trade.  This  currency  should,  of  course, 
be  the  money  of  the  Government  in  its  home  affairs, 


17 

as  well  as  the  money  of  the  people.  To  sustain  it, 
would  cost  the  Government  no  interest.  It  would 
require  the  people  to  pay  no  taxes.  We  rely  upon  the 
aid  of  no  foreign  power  for  any  other  thing ;  why 
need  we  for  our  money  standard,  when  we  have  one  of 
our  own,  which,  and  which  alone,  will  give  us  money 
in  quantity  equal  to  our  necessities ;  which  by  cheap- 
ening rates  of  interest,  will  stimulate  industry ;  which 
will  insure  us  against  panics  and  revulsions ;  and  which 
will  render  one-third  of  the  whole  national  debt  no 
burden,  but  a  national  blessing? 

Yours  respectfully, 

A.  WOLCOTT. 


J»ffl"g5o  611  325     2 


